Pennies from Heaven
by psyraven
Summary: Buffy/Giles. Set in Season 5. After another jealous outburst from Riley, Buffy seeks comfort with coffee, only to have Willow open her eyes to her true feelings for Giles...
1. The Penny Drops

A/N: Originally written in 2000 during Season 5, or as I call it 'The Riley Years', this was my attempt to address the shift in Buffy and Giles' relationship.

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, it all belongs to Joss and the merry band of companies whose names I can never remember. Don't sue me 'cause I don't have anything you would want.

* * * * * * * *

**The Penny Drops**

Buffy flopped down into the booth opposite Willow and rested her head on her hands with a groan.

"Bad day?" Willow asked.

Buffy peered up through sun-streaked blonde hair and grunted noncommittally before snagging a passing waitress. "Can I get a half-fat latte, with three sugars and extra chocolate sprinkles?" she asked hopefully.

The waitress gave her a sympathetic look. "Man trouble?"

"You betcha."

"One caffeine and sugar overdose coming right up, honey."

As the waitress walked away, Buffy glanced at Willow and sighed. "Men. Can't live with them, can't chop them up into itty bitty pieces and bury them in the garden... Not without getting arrested anyhow."

Willow smiled. "I'm gonna take a wild stab in the dark and guess Riley did something to tick you off."

"He's driving me crazy!" the Slayer said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I kinda guessed that part. What with all the, you know, 'chopping' remarks."

Buffy chuckled. "Guess I sounded kinda loopy, huh?"

"Just a little," Willow said.

Buffy pounced on the latte as the waitress brought it over and sipped at it with a heartfelt sigh. "Ah, coffee. You know where you are with coffee. No arguments, no cheating, no irrational jealousy..."

Willow latched on to the last comment. "Riley's been acting jealous again?"

"When is he not?" Buffy said with heavy irony. "But, this time really beats all, Will. Can you believe he's started interrogating me about the amount of time I'm spending with Giles, of all people?"

"Well, um, yes?" the redhead offered tentatively.

"Huh?"

Willow explained hurriedly. "Oh, I know there's nothing actually going on, 'cause you know... it's you... and, and Giles. But, well, he wouldn't be the first person to get the wrong idea about the two of you."

Buffy's eyes widened in shock. "You mean... people have actually thought that me... and _Giles_ were..." She couldn't bring herself to actually say it out loud. "Who? Who thought that?"

"Lots of people, Buffy. Most of the guys at school for a start. I mean, you _do_ spend a lot of time together and there is kind of a, I don't know," she searched for the right word, "a _rapport_ between the two of you. I mean, half the time the rest of us feel like you're having a private conversation."

She smiled but Buffy was still looking shell-shocked. "That was supposed to be a good thing," she pointed out anxiously, hoping to erase the worrying expression from her friend's face. "It's great that the two of you get on so well. You know, for the slaying and stuff."

"I never realised," Buffy said quietly. "I guess I just never thought of Giles in that way."

"Well, I certainly did," said Willow with a wicked grin. "I had the biggest crush on him for the first couple of years he was here. If I'd had to choose between him and Xander, it would have been a close call. It might even have gotten ugly."

"Really?" Buffy said, intrigued. "I never guessed. You don't think he's a bit, well, old?"

"Not particularly." Willow shrugged. "Men mature better than women, anyway. I mean look at guys like Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan..."

"Sensing a 007 theme developing here, Will," Buffy said with a smirk.

"There are others too. How about Tom Selleck or ooh, ooh, Harrison Ford," she said, almost bouncing in her seat.

"Down, girl." Buffy said, secretly amused at her friend's enthusiasm. "I'm on board with the Harrison thing. Anyway, don't you think you're getting a little over-excited for someone who now plays for the other side?"

"Just because I'm happy with Tara, doesn't mean I can't still enjoy looking. I mean, men are like art..."

"What – two-dimensional and occasionally surreal?"

Willow giggled. "No. I mean, you can appreciate them like you would a beautiful painting or a sculpture, without actually wanting to, um, touch or... anything."

"I don't know, Will. I've always been more of a hands-on girl myself." As a mental picture of getting hands-on with her newly reinstated Watcher popped into her head, Buffy almost choked on her coffee. What was wrong with her today? Four years and she'd never once thought of Giles in that way. Well... apart from that weird dream a couple of years ago when she woke up all hot and sweaty... oh, and that time she'd found herself checking out his rear as he bent down to lift some heavy boxes. Buffy groaned. _How had she managed to block out those memories until now?_ a little voice whispered in her mind.

"So, what are you gonna do about him?" Willow asked, interrupting her friend's reverie.

"I don't know, Will. I mean, I can hardly walk right up to him and say 'Oh, by the way, I think I may have repressed feelings for you, so how about a date sometime?'"

Willow's eyes widened until they looked too big for her face. "What?!"

"What?" Buffy looked puzzled.

"Buffy, I meant what are you gonna do about _Riley_?"

"Oh." The blonde Slayer blushed and took a sudden interest in the cup in front of her.

"Buffy? Buffy!"

"Jeez, Will, keep the volume down. I think the whole coffee house is listening."

"Are you telling me you have... feelings... for _Giles_?"

"No, actually I wasn't telling you anything. It just kinda... slipped out."

"Then you _do_ have feelings for him?"

"I don't know, Will. Mostly what I'm feeling is confused. It's all your fault, too. Until I came in here I was perfectly happy in Denial-land. I had no idea I even thought about Giles like that and now suddenly all I can think is 'Yummy' and 'How could I have wasted all this time?'" She banged her head down onto the table again, before saying in a muffled voice, "I need help, Will. Possibly psychiatric."

"Well, I can't do anything about that, but... another latte?"

Buffy nodded without raising her head. "Make it a double."


	2. Penny For Your Thoughts

**Penny for your Thoughts...**

* * * * * * * *

Giles surreptitiously watched the blonde girl pummeling the life out of a punchbag and wondered for about the fifth time that morning what was on her mind. She'd been distracted for a couple of days now and, if she didn't watch out, she was going to get herself injured on patrol.

He supposed he should try and find out what was bothering her but he was reluctant to spoil the more harmonious relationship they'd achieved over the last few weeks by probing into something that was probably none of his business. Besides, Buffy's mind was still a complete mystery to him and it was doubtful how much help he'd be. Still... it couldn't do any harm to ask...

He cleared his throat and glanced over his glasses at his Slayer. "Penny for them?"

Buffy's head whipped round. "Huh?" She moved aside just in time as the punchbag swung round to hit her and Giles sternly repressed a smile.

"Your thoughts," he said. "You seem to have had something on your mind of late. I just wondered if there was anything I could do to help." He took off his glasses and polished them on his sweater, anything to avoid looking into those bright, beautiful eyes that always made him feel slightly uncomfortable. "Sometimes it helps to, um, talk things through, with a disinterested party, so to speak. I just thought you should know that I'm always here for you if you need a, um, friendly ear."

He looked up to find her regarding him with fond indulgence and the expression warmed him from the inside out. Strange how she could have that effect on him. No one else had ever made him feel good just with a look. When that look changed into one of thoughtful speculation, however, he felt vaguely uneasy. What had he got himself into?

* * * * * * * *

"Well," said Buffy slowly, wondering how best to broach the subject. There was no indication that Giles felt anything 'romantic' for her and she wasn't about to blow their friendship on a whim. Not that there was anything particularly whimmy about what she was feeling for him. She'd waited for the novelty to wear off and to go back to thinking of him as Giles, loyal friend and comrade-at-arms, but she was unfortunately still thinking of him as Giles, wonderful guy and strong-pair-of-arms. So, something was going to have to be done.

Even Riley had noticed the difference. Of course, his being jealous of Giles in the first place didn't help, but now Buffy was feeling the guilt because he had something to be jealous of. She hadn't been able to be near him for the last couple of days and he was being all hurt and huffy about it... not that she blamed him. She decided to start with that and test the water with Giles. Maybe if she watched his reactions really closely, she could get some sort of clue to how he really felt about her. If all went well, they could be smooching by lunchtime and, if not, well she knew for a fact that there was a jumbo tub of Ben and Jerry's with her name on it at home.

"I've been having some problems with Riley," she began and watched his face attentively.

* * * * * * * *

Riley again. That bloody pillock didn't appreciate his own good fortune. The way he constantly upset Buffy put Giles' back up. It wasn't that he disliked the bloke, far from it, they actually got on pretty well most of the time. He sometimes wondered whether he'd ever approve of any man Buffy chose. It was unfair of him to expect her to remain single – after all, she was a young, vibrant, beautiful woman. It would be a shocking waste.

He looked over at her, somewhat surprised at the term he'd used, even if only in his thoughts, to describe her. He'd always thought himself immune to her attractions, even as he'd watched with amusement as every other man she met tumbled head over heels and followed her around like a puppy. God, that would be the ultimate irony, if she gained that power over him as well. The one man who was supposed to be strong and guide her. He forced the thought aside and concentrated on what she was saying.

"We've been having problems for a while. You, uh, you probably noticed that, right?" she asked ironically.

"Just a tad," he replied in the same tone.

"Riley was heavily beaten with the jealousy stick and he kind of wigs out whenever he thinks I might be paying any other guy too much attention."

"Sign of insecurity," said Giles shortly, and then was unable to resist adding, "and probably immaturity too." Oh, that was clever, old man. Could you have sounded more snide and petty if you'd tried?

Strangely, Buffy seemed not to notice. At least she perked up noticeably so he assumed she hadn't heard him.

"I guess," she said. "Only lately, he seems to have focused on one particular target for his little green-eyed vendetta."

"Oh?" Giles was intrigued. He hadn't noticed Buffy spending any amount of time with anyone Riley could have homed in on as a threat.

"Yeah. Wanna know who it is?" There was a teasing note in her voice. If he hadn't known better, he would have said she was flirting with him.

"I'm on tenterhooks," he said. "Do tell."

"It's you, Giles."

His eyes opened wide for one moment before he began to laugh. "Good heavens. He does seem to have got the wrong end of the stick, doesn't he?"

Buffy stepped closer and took his glasses, placing them on the table next to him before leaning in and whispering, "Has he? Or is he just more astute than we are?"

"I, I... er... don't know w-what you mean," Giles was having trouble with his breathing. Her delectable figure was coated in spandex and it was right there in front of him. Even with his vision, he could see more than he'd ever allowed himself to want to see. "W-we h-have a close relationship, true, but it has always been, um, entirely i-innocent." _Unlike his mind at the moment_, came the wayward thought.

"Uh-huh," she agreed, looking up at him with something that looked suspiciously like desire. "But, you know, I discussed it with Willow and it kind of made me think about a few things."

"Things? What things?" he almost squeaked. God help him, but her perfume was driving him crazy. He could feel his body beginning to respond to her proximity and hoped like mad that she wouldn't notice. When she wriggled a little closer and looked up at him with a slow smile, he knew he'd hoped in vain.

"Things like... how much we have in common, how close we've gotten over the years, the way your butt looks in those black jeans of yours..."

Giles blinked. "My... sorry?"

"But most of all, you know what I thought about?" she asked softly.

He was almost afraid to find out, but he was more afraid not to. This whole conversation was like some bizarre dream but he didn't want to wake up. "What?" he said.

"I thought about what it would be like to kiss you and have you hold me and know that I was safer there than anywhere else in the world."

He felt his heart melt in his chest. "Oh, Buffy," he said with a smile.

"Wanna satisfy my curiosity?" she said, putting her arms around his neck and holding him tightly, as if afraid he might escape if she let go. It was one more sign of the insecurity of this girl who carried the world on her slim shoulders, and Giles wasn't proof against it. He bent his head and pressed his lips softly against hers, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her tenderly against him. It was a sweet kiss, with the promise of passion lying just beneath, but for now the promise was enough. More important was the sense of connection and the growing feelings in the two people who clung so closely to one another.

It was the sound of a throat being cleared that brought them out of their reverie. They pulled reluctantly apart to see Willow and Xander standing at the doorway. Xander had his hands pressed firmly to his eyes, but Willow had a satisfied smile on her face, almost a smirk.

"You might wanna flip the 'Closed' sign when you're otherwise occupied," she said. "It'll save Xander's tender sensibilities in the future."

"If I just keep my eyes closed, it'll all go away," Xander said fervently.

"Don't worry, I'll take him away and put him in therapy," said Willow with a giggle. "He'll be fine in a year or two." With that she grabbed his arm and tugged him out of the room.

Buffy and Giles glanced at each other and grinned. Where they would go from here was anybody's guess, but for now they couldn't have been happier.

"Now," said Buffy, stepping closer to him again, "where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?"

THE END


End file.
